CN112486157A

CN112486157A - Automatic working system, steering method thereof and self-moving equipment

Info

Publication number: CN112486157A
Application number: CN201910863810.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 保罗·安德罗; 费德里科·泰斯托林; 达维德·多尔夫; 伊曼纽尔·康蒂
Original assignee: Positec Power Tools Suzhou Co Ltd
Current assignee: Positec Power Tools Suzhou Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-09-12
Filing date: 2019-09-12
Publication date: 2021-03-12
Anticipated expiration: 2039-09-12
Also published as: WO2021047063A1; EP4030255A4; EP4030255A1; CN112486157B

Abstract

The invention relates to an automatic working system, a steering method thereof and self-moving equipment. The invention has the beneficial effects that: the path planning of the self-moving equipment in the walking process is realized, the uniform work of the self-moving equipment in a work area or the quick leaving of a narrow area is facilitated, and the work efficiency of the self-moving equipment is improved.

Description

Automatic working system, steering method thereof and self-moving equipment

Technical Field

The invention relates to an automatic working system, a steering method of the automatic working system and self-moving equipment.

Background

With the continuous progress of computer technology and artificial intelligence technology, more and more people choose to use automatic working systems in daily life. Self-moving devices that automatically work in automatic work systems, such as: intelligent products such as intelligent lawn mowers and sweeping robots generally can automatically work on a user's lawn or indoors after initial setting, thereby freeing users from tedious and time-consuming housework such as cleaning rooms, maintaining lawns and the like.

In general, smart products may work in a work area by walking on random paths, however, such a work mode may cause uneven work in the work area. For example: for a mower, when a narrow passage exists in a working area, due to the small floor area of the narrow passage, a self-moving device may not reach other parts in the working area through the narrow passage, or may take a lot of time to successfully pass through the narrow passage, so that repeated cutting when the self-moving device is turned back for many times in the narrow passage may cause uneven cutting; or for normal working areas of non-narrow channels, some areas work repeatedly, and some areas cannot be cut, so that lawn maintenance is not facilitated, and energy loss is accelerated.

Disclosure of Invention

To overcome the defects of the prior art, the invention provides a self-moving device capable of uniformly working in a working area and a steering method thereof.

The technical scheme adopted by the invention for solving the problems in the prior art is as follows: an automatic work system, comprising: a self-moving device that walks and works within a bounded work area, the work area including at least one zone, the self-moving device comprising: a housing; the walking module is arranged on the shell and used for driving the self-moving equipment to walk and/or turn; the control module is used for controlling the walking module to drive the self-moving equipment to walk and/or turn; the automatic work system further includes: the navigation mechanism is used for recording the walking position passed by the self-moving equipment when the self-moving equipment walks in the working area, and determining the coverage value of each partition of the self-moving equipment in the working area based on the walking position;

when the self-moving equipment reaches the limit, the control module controls the walking module to steer to drive away from the limit, and based on the coverage value corresponding to each walking range when the self-moving equipment reaches the limit, the control module controls the walking module to steer to the walking range with the coverage value meeting the preset requirement.

In one embodiment of the application, the control module controls the walking module to perform steering in any walking direction in the walking range.

In an embodiment of the application, the navigation mechanism is further configured to determine an angular relationship between a walking direction of the self-moving device and a limit, and the control module controls the walking module to perform steering based on the angular relationship, and when the self-moving device reaches the limit, if the angular relationship is an obtuse angle, the self-moving device is controlled to steer towards the obtuse angle direction.

In one embodiment of the present application, the walking range includes: and the conical area takes the current walking position of the self-moving equipment as a center and has a preset angle.

In one embodiment of the application, the control module determines the coverage value corresponding to the walking range based on the partition coverage value satisfying the preset distance with the self-moving device.

In one embodiment of the application, the control module determines the coverage value corresponding to the walking range based on the coverage value of the partition adjacent to the self-moving device.

In an embodiment of the present application, the method for determining coverage values corresponding to respective walking ranges when the self-moving device reaches the limit includes: based on the sum or average of the coverage values of the sections in the respective walking ranges.

In one embodiment of the present application, the at least one partition is defined by a partition boundary,

correspondingly, the walking range of the walking module is determined based on the partition boundary of the partition to which the walking module turns and the current walking position.

In one embodiment of the present application, the walking range includes: the walking range defined by the user or the preset walking range.

In one embodiment of the application, the coverage value of the partition is determined based on a parameter of at least one of: the self-moving equipment walks in the time, the walking times and the walking path length of each subarea.

In one embodiment of the present application, the preset requirements include: and the coverage value is less than or equal to the coverage value corresponding to other walking ranges.

In one embodiment of the present application, the preset requirements include: and the coverage value is less than or equal to the maximum value of the coverage values corresponding to other walking ranges.

In one embodiment of the present application, the preset requirements include: the coverage value is less than or equal to a preset coverage value.

In one embodiment of the present application, the preset coverage value includes: the user-defined coverage value, or the preset coverage value.

In one embodiment of the present application, the navigation mechanism comprises at least one of: ultrasonic sensors, radar sensors, optical sensors, UWB sensors, inertial navigation systems, satellite navigation mechanisms, visual sensors.

In one embodiment of the present application, the navigation mechanism is fixedly or detachably mounted to the self-moving device.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a steering method of an automatic working system, wherein the self-moving equipment walks and works in a working area defined by a limit, and the method can comprise the following steps: monitoring the position relation of the self-moving equipment and a boundary; and when the situation that the self-moving equipment reaches the limit is monitored, controlling the self-moving equipment to turn to a walking range with a coverage value meeting preset requirements based on the coverage value corresponding to each walking range.

In one embodiment of the present application, before controlling the self-moving device to steer to the walking range with the coverage value meeting the preset requirement, the method further comprises: dividing a map of the work area into a plurality of partitions; recording the walking position passed by the walking module when walking in the working area; and determining coverage values in all the partitions of the working area based on the walking positions.

In one embodiment of the present application, controlling the steering from the mobile device to the walking range with the coverage value meeting the preset requirement may include: and controlling the self-moving equipment to perform steering to any walking direction in the walking range.

In one embodiment of the present application, the method may further comprise: determining the angle relation between the walking direction of the self-moving equipment and the boundary; and when the self-moving equipment reaches the limit, if the angle relation is an obtuse angle, controlling the self-moving equipment to turn towards the obtuse angle direction.

In one embodiment of the present application, the walking range may include: a cone-shaped area having a preset angle centered on a current walking position of the mobile device.

In one embodiment of the application, the coverage value corresponding to the walking range is determined based on the partition coverage value satisfying the preset distance with the self-moving device.

In one embodiment of the application, the coverage value corresponding to the walking range is determined based on the coverage value of the partition adjacent to the self-moving device.

In an embodiment of the present application, controlling the mobile device to turn to a walking range whose coverage value meets a preset requirement based on a coverage value corresponding to each walking range may include: the walking module can be controlled to turn to the walking range with the coverage value meeting the preset requirement based on the sum and/or the average value of the coverage values of the partitions in each walking range.

In one embodiment of the application, at least one section may be defined by a section boundary, and accordingly, a walking range when the walking module turns may be determined based on the section boundary of the section to which the walking module turns and the current walking position.

In one embodiment of the present application, the walking range may include: the walking range defined by the user or the preset walking range.

In one embodiment of the present application, the coverage value of a partition may be determined based on a parameter of at least one of: the walking time, the walking passing times and the walking path length of the self-moving equipment in each subarea.

In one embodiment of the present application, the preset requirements may include: the coverage value is less than or equal to the coverage value corresponding to other walking ranges.

In one embodiment of the present application, the preset requirements may include: the coverage value is less than or equal to the maximum value of the coverage values corresponding to other walking ranges.

In one embodiment of the present application, the preset requirements may include: the coverage value is less than or equal to a preset coverage value.

In one embodiment of the present application, the preset override value may include: the user-defined coverage value, or the preset coverage value.

In one embodiment of the present application, the navigation mechanism may include, but is not limited to, at least one of: ultrasonic sensors, radar sensors, optical sensors, UWB sensors, inertial navigation systems, satellite navigation mechanisms, visual sensors.

In one embodiment of the present application, the navigation mechanism may be fixedly or detachably mounted to the self-moving device.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a self-moving device, where the self-moving device walks and works in a work area defined by a boundary, the work area includes at least one partition, and the self-moving device includes: a housing; the walking module is arranged on the shell and used for driving the self-moving equipment to walk and/or turn; the control module is used for controlling the walking module to drive the self-moving equipment to walk and/or turn; the navigation mechanism is used for recording the walking position passed by the self-moving equipment when the self-moving equipment walks in the working area, and determining the coverage value of each partition of the self-moving equipment in the working area based on the walking position;

when the self-moving device reaches the limit, the control module controls the walking module to turn to drive away from the limit,

and based on the coverage value corresponding to each walking range when the self-moving equipment reaches the limit, the control module controls the walking module to execute steering to the walking range of which the coverage value meets the preset requirement.

In one embodiment of the application, the at least one section is defined by a section limit, and the walking range of the walking module is determined based on the section limit of the section to which the walking module turns and the current walking position.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a steering method of the self-moving equipment, the self-moving equipment walks and works in a working area limited by a limit, and the method comprises the following steps: monitoring the position relation of the self-moving equipment and a boundary; and when the situation that the self-moving equipment reaches the limit is monitored, controlling the self-moving equipment to turn to a walking range with a coverage value meeting preset requirements based on the coverage value corresponding to each walking range.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the beneficial effects that: and recording the walking position passed by the self-moving equipment when the self-moving equipment walks in the working area by using the navigation mechanism, and determining the coverage value of each partition of the self-moving equipment in the working area based on the walking position. When the self-moving equipment reaches the limit, the control module controls the walking module to turn to drive away from the limit, and the control module can control the walking module to execute turning to the walking range of which the coverage value meets the preset requirement based on the coverage value corresponding to each walking range when the self-moving equipment reaches the limit. By judging the coverage value of the walking range when the self-moving equipment turns, the path planning of the self-moving equipment in the walking process is realized, the uniform work of the self-moving equipment in a working area is facilitated, and the working efficiency of the self-moving equipment is improved.

Drawings

The above objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention can be achieved by the following drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an automated work system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a lawn mower according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a mower according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the work area division according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 5-6 are schematic views of a mower steering method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a mower steering method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 8-9 are schematic views of a lawnmower steering method according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 10-11 are schematic views of a lawnmower steering method according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a method of rapidly exiting a stenosis in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic illustration of a method of rapidly exiting a stricture in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a flow chart of a mower steering method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a scenario of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Also, as used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

As shown in fig. 1, the automatic working system of the present embodiment may include: from the mobile device 1, the limit 7, the base station 3. Where the self-moving device 1 walks and works within the working area 4 defined by the boundary 7, the base station 3 can be used to return supplementary energy when the self-moving device is under power. The boundary 7 may be the periphery of the entire working area, may be referred to as an outer boundary, generally end-to-end, enclosing the working area 4, and may be electronic or physical. The physical boundary may simply be a natural physical boundary formed by the interface between the working area 4 and the non-working area, etc., such as: natural boundaries between grass and non-grass, or boundaries formed by walls, fences, railings, etc.; the electronic limit can be achieved by laying wires around the working area 4 and using virtual limit signals emitted by limit signal generating means connected to the wires, for example: electromagnetic, acoustic, or optical signals, and the like. As shown in fig. 1, there may also be areas 5 in the work area that are not suitable for working from the mobile device 1, and are bounded by the areas 5, such as: flower beds, pools, obstacles, etc., may be referred to as inner boundaries, and the portions outside the inner boundaries are the work areas. In the embodiment of the present application, the automatic working system may further include a navigation mechanism 26 for positioning, the navigation mechanism 26 may be a separate device or may be integrated with the self-moving device 1, and the navigation mechanism 26 may be detachably or fixedly mounted on the self-moving device 1.

The self-moving device 1 may be an unattended device such as an automatic mower, a sweeping robot, an automatic snowplow, etc., which automatically travels on the surface of a work area to perform mowing, dust collecting or snow sweeping operations. Of course, the self-moving device is not limited to the automatic mower, the sweeping robot, and the automatic snowplow, but may be other devices suitable for unattended operation, which is not limited in the present application.

In the following embodiment, the automatic working system is taken as an automatic mower system, i.e. the mobile device 1 is taken as an automatic mower 20. As shown in FIG. 1, the boundary 7 defines the working area of the robotic lawnmower 20, and the boundary 7 can be either a physical boundary or an electronic boundary.

As shown in fig. 2-3, the robotic lawnmower 20 includes a housing 27, and may further include a walk module 21, a work module 22, a control module 24, and an energy module 25. The control module 24 is connected with and controls the walking module 21 and the working module 22 to realize the automatic walking and working of the automatic mower 20.

Specifically, the traveling module 21 may include a wheel set and a traveling motor driving the wheel set, the wheel set generally includes a driving wheel 211 driven by the traveling motor and an auxiliary wheel 212 for assisting the supporting housing, and it is understood that the traveling module 21 may also be a crawler structure. In one embodiment, the walking motor can be directly connected with the driving wheel, and the right driving wheel and the left driving wheel are respectively matched and connected with a walking motor so as to realize differential output control steering; in another embodiment, the walking motor can also realize differential output control steering by arranging a transmission device, namely the same motor drives the right driving wheel and the left driving wheel through different transmission devices. The working module 22 is a mowing module, and includes: the cutting blade 221 is driven by a cutting motor 222. The center of the operating module 22 is located on the central axis X of the mower 20, is disposed below the housing, is located between the auxiliary wheels and the drive wheels, and may be offset to the left or right of the housing. The energy module 25 is fixedly or detachably mounted to the housing and may be a battery pack or the like. In operation, the battery pack releases electrical energy to maintain the mower 20 in operation and walking. When not in operation, the battery may be connected to an external power source to supplement power; the robotic lawnmower 20 may also automatically seek for base station 3 to supplement power when it detects a power shortage. The control module 24 may be a controller that controls the robotic lawnmower 20 to walk, turn, and operate automatically based on a predetermined program or received instructions. The lawn mower 20 may further comprise: a communication module 23 may be used for communication between the lawn mower 20 and a client or server.

As shown in fig. 1, the robotic lawnmower system may further include: the navigation mechanism 26, may include, but is not limited to, at least one of: ultrasonic sensors, radar sensors, optical sensors (e.g., laser sensors, infrared sensors), UWB sensors, satellite navigation mechanisms (RTK, GPS, beidou, etc. navigation mechanisms), vision sensors, and the like. Navigation mechanism 26 may also include an inertial navigation system, which may include gyroscopes, accelerometers, etc., that is capable of cooperating with a satellite navigation mechanism to assist in navigation in the presence of poor satellite signals. Preferably, the navigation mechanism 26 is mounted above the housing of the mower 20 at a location that is conducive to receiving external positioning signals, or may be mounted at the front of the housing to ensure that the mower 20 can be steered into the work area in a timely manner to prevent the mower from exceeding the work area. Of course, the housing may be installed at other positions, and the application is not limited.

In embodiments of the present application, the navigation mechanism 26 may be used to record a walk position that the mower 20 passes while walking in a work area, be removably or fixedly mounted to the mower 20, or be part of the mower 20. When the navigation mechanism 26 is detached from the robotic lawnmower 1, it can work independently, recording the position coordinates through which it moves; when the navigation mechanism 26 is mounted on the housing 27 of the robotic lawnmower 1, it can be electrically connected to the control module of the robotic lawnmower 1 to output the current position coordinates of the robotic lawnmower 1. In this embodiment, the work area map may be generated by a user holding the navigation mechanism 26 or controlling the robotic lawnmower 20 with the navigation mechanism mounted thereon to travel along the limits of the work area (including the inner and outer limits) to record the position coordinates of the limits of the work area, or by demarcating the limits of the work area on an electronic map. It is worth noting that the map limits 2 generated in the three ways described above may be offset into the working area by a distance, which may preferably be 30cm, with respect to the limit 7 in fig. 1, so that the lawnmower 20 does not exceed the real limit of the working area during operation based on the map limits 2, thereby ensuring safety. A working area map is established by using the automatic mower system with the navigation function, and mowing work is carried out according to the map, so that a user does not need to arrange boundary lines, and the workload is reduced. It should be noted that the limits encountered during the operation of the lawn mower described later in this application may all be referred to as the map limit 2.

In an embodiment of the present application, the dividing requirements customized by the user, the dividing requirements preset in the mower system, or the precision of the mower system may be, for example: and positioning accuracy, namely dividing the working area map into a plurality of partitions, wherein the cutting requirements of the partitions are approximately the same after division. Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of dividing a working area displayed in a client, the working area is divided into a plurality of equal-area grids as shown in fig. 4 according to the positioning accuracy of a navigation mechanism, and the coverage value of the working area corresponding to the grid is represented from low to high in the schematic diagram by the grid color from light to dark. It is worth noting that in practical applications, there may be deviations in the data, and thus the equal areas here may be approximately equal in area, and need not be completely equal in one hundred percent. Fig. 4 is only an exemplary illustration, and the work area may be divided according to other standards, which is not limited in this application. Specifically, the map division process may be performed in the navigation mechanism 26, the server, and the lawn mower 20, which is not limited in the present application.

Further, when an area 5, such as a flower bed, a pool, or an obstacle, which is not suitable for the lawn mower 20 to work, exists inside the work area, the map can be created not only along the outside limit map but also along the inside limit map in the process of creating the map, so that when the work area is divided later, the map obtained by removing the area 5 can be divided.

During travel of mower 20, navigation mechanism 26 may record travel positions it has traveled through the work area and determine coverage values for mower 20 in various zones based on the recorded travel positions. Specifically, the coverage value of each partition may be determined based on, but not limited to, at least one of the following walking position parameters, including: the walking path, the walking time and the walking passing times of the mower in each subarea. In one embodiment, the coverage value may be a corresponding parameter or a proportion of a corresponding parameter determined based on the walk position parameter of the lawn mower 20, such as: the proportion of the walking time of each subarea in the total walking time. For example: dividing a working area into 5 subareas, wherein the walking time of the subarea 1 is 5s, the walking time of the subarea 2 is 5s, the walking time of the subarea 3 is 10s, the walking time of the subarea 4 is 15s, and the walking time of the subarea 5 is 20s, determining a coverage value according to the walking time of the mower in each subarea, wherein the coverage value in the subarea 1 is as follows: 5s/(5s +5s +10s +15s +20s) — 9.1%, the coverage values in partition 2, partition 3, partition 4, and partition 5 are: 9.1%, 18.2%, 27.2%, 36.4%. Of course, the corresponding parameters or the corresponding proportions determined for other walking position parameters such as the walking path and the like can also be used, and the application is not limited.

When the mower 20 is detected to reach the limit 2, the control module can control the walking module to turn to drive away from the limit 2, and based on the coverage value corresponding to each walking range when the mower 20 reaches the limit 2, the control module controls the walking module to execute turning to the walking range of which the coverage value meets the preset requirement. In the embodiment, when the mower reaches the limit, the traveling range steered when the mower reaches the limit is limited by using the coverage value, rather than randomly steering, that is, the uniform work of the mower in the working area is realized by controlling the coverage value of the traveling range steered by the mower 20 to plan the traveling path of the mower 20. Further, when the mower 20 is in a narrow area, for example: when working in narrow passageways, by the coverage value limiting means proposed in the present application, it is possible to achieve even cutting of the mower 20 in narrow areas and a quick exit of the mower 20 from narrow areas.

As shown in fig. 5, which is a schematic view of a turning method of a lawn mower in an embodiment, in this embodiment, the walking range may be a cone or a sector, specifically, the walking range may be a cone with a preset angle centered on a current walking position of the lawn mower, and when the lawn mower reaches a limit and turns to a driving away limit, the control module may control the walking module to turn to a cone whose coverage value meets a preset requirement based on a coverage value corresponding to each cone when the lawn mower reaches the limit.

Specifically, when the lawnmower reaches the traveling position corresponding to the limit, all steerable ranges in the working area may be sequentially scanned from one side to the other side of the limit in the form of a cone (the dashed cone and the solid cone are exemplified in fig. 5) centering on the current traveling position, and the coverage value corresponding to each cone at the time of steering may be acquired. The scanning described in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by an associated program in the lawn mower system, rather than actual sensor scanning. The direction during scanning can be clockwise or anticlockwise, so long as the condition that all corresponding steerable walking ranges are completely scanned when the mower reaches the limit is met, and the specific scanning and scanning starting position are not limited in the application. The coverage value corresponding to the cone may be the coverage value of all partitions in the cone, all partitions in the cone may be complete partitions included in the cone, and partitions that are not completely included in the cone and are passed through by the cone, and accordingly, the coverage value of all partitions in the cone may be the sum, the product, the average value, or the like of the coverage values of the partitions, or may be the maximum coverage value, the minimum coverage value, the median, or the like of the partitions. After the coverage value corresponding to each cone is obtained, the coverage value meeting the preset requirement can be selected from the coverage values, and the mower is controlled to turn to the cone area corresponding to the coverage value. The taper radius and the preset angle may be determined by user-defined or system preset, and the present application is not limited thereto. In the embodiment of the present application, the cone shape is only a schematic description of the walking range, and the walking range may be in other forms, such as a cone shape, a sector shape, a quadrilateral shape, and the like, and the present application is not limited.

After the cone area meeting the preset requirement is determined, the mower can be controlled to turn to any walking direction in the cone area, wherein the walking direction of the mower 20 is along the longitudinal central axis direction of the mower. When the solid line taper is a walking range satisfying the requirement, as shown in fig. 6, the mower may be controlled to select any one walking direction in the taper to perform steering, and steering may be performed in a steering direction as shown by a broken line in fig. 6.

In the embodiment of the application, when the mower reaches the limit, the two rear driving wheels can be controlled to respectively steer at different rotating speeds or in different directions, or the rear driving wheel on one side is controlled to stop, and the rear driving wheel on the other side is controlled to steer, so that the mower can steer.

It is worth mentioning that the limit 2 in the working area as a whole may be curved or straight. For convenience of illustration, the present application is described with the boundary being a straight line, however, the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to a scenario in which the boundary is not a straight line. Meanwhile, due to inertia, the traveling path of the lawnmower when steered may exceed the limit, and as shown in fig. 7, the intersection point of the traveling direction before steering and the limit and the intersection point of the traveling direction after steering and the limit may not coincide, i.e., there are two intersection points (point M, N). However, since the traveling speed of the lawnmower is slow and the turning radius of the lawnmower when turning is small, the traveling direction of the lawnmower when turning can be regarded as having only one intersection (such as intersection P in fig. 5 and 6) with the limit, and the control of the traveling direction after turning of the lawnmower is not affected.

In another embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 8 to 9, which are schematic diagrams illustrating a turning method of a lawn mower in another embodiment, the walking range may be a line segment with a preset length and centered at the current walking position. When the mower reaches the current walking position corresponding to the limit, the working area corresponding to the turning of the mower can be scanned in a line segment form (the dotted line segment and the solid line segment are taken as examples in fig. 8), that is, the coverage value corresponding to each line segment in the turning can be obtained by scanning from one side edge of the limit to the other side edge in a line segment form with the current walking position as the center. After the coverage value corresponding to each line segment is obtained, the coverage value meeting the preset requirement can be selected from the coverage values, and the mower is controlled to turn to the line segment direction (also called as the walking direction) corresponding to the coverage value. The coverage value corresponding to the line segment may be the coverage value of all the partitions through which the line segment passes in a certain walking direction, may be the sum, the product, the average value, or the like of the coverage values of the partitions, or may be the maximum coverage value, the minimum coverage value, the median, or the like of the partitions. The partition through which the line segment passes may refer to a condition that at least one intersection point exists between the line segment and the partition, and the preset length of the line segment may be determined according to a user-defined or system preset mode, which is not limited in the present application.

After determining the line segment satisfying the preset requirement, the mower may be controlled to turn to the direction corresponding to the line segment, wherein the walking direction of the mower 20 may be along the longitudinal central axis thereof. As shown in fig. 9, the mower may be controlled to select a line segment satisfying a preset requirement to perform turning, see the dashed line labeled turning direction in fig. 9.

Fig. 10-11 are schematic views illustrating a turning method of a lawnmower according to another embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 10, after the work area map is obtained, the work area map is divided into a plurality of grids (e.g., grid 13), which may also be referred to as partitions, wherein at least one partition obtained by dividing the work area map may be defined by partition boundaries. Accordingly, in one embodiment of the present application, the walking range of the mower can be determined by the current walking position of the mower 20 and the zone boundary, so that the angle of the mower when turning can be between the current walking position and a connecting line of two end points in the turned zone boundary, and the mower can walk to the corresponding zone after turning. As shown in fig. 10, if the turning zone is the grid 13, and the two end points of the diagonal line of the grid 13 are the point a and the point B, the traveling direction of the lawnmower during turning can be located between PA and PB. In another embodiment of the present application, when the coverage values of the adjacent partitions are similar or identical, the adjacent partitions may be used as a whole, the walking range of the mower may be determined according to the current walking position of the mower and the boundary of the whole, and the calculated value may be used as the coverage value of the whole by calculating the average value or the maximum value or the middle position of the coverage value of the whole. The control module may select any one direction located in the walking range as a walking direction when performing steering, and control the walking module to perform steering in the walking direction. As shown in fig. 10, if the

grids

12 and 13 are two adjacent grids having similar coverage values, the

grids

12 and 13 may be integrated to determine the overall coverage value, and if the

grids

12 and 13 are the sectors for which steering is selected, the lawnmower may select the traveling direction between the PA and the PC to perform steering.

In one embodiment of the application, the control module can determine a coverage value corresponding to the walking range based on the coverage value of the subarea adjacent to the mower, and control the mower to turn to the walking range with the coverage value meeting the preset requirement. In one embodiment, the walking range in which the mower steering coverage value is controlled to meet the preset requirement may be a zone in which the mower steering coverage value is controlled to meet the preset requirement. That is, the walking range of the mower can be determined by the current walking position of the mower and the partition boundary adjacent to the walking position when the mower reaches the boundary. When the mower reaches the current walking position and turns to the direction to drive away from the limit, the zones corresponding to the turning can be scanned in a zone form to obtain the coverage value of the zone adjacent to the mower, or the coverage value of the zone adjacent to the mower can be directly read from the zone coverage values, the coverage value meeting the preset requirement is selected from the coverage values, and the mower is controlled to turn to the zone corresponding to the coverage value. In another embodiment of the present application, when there is a situation where the partial coverage values are similar or identical in the adjacent partitions to the mower, the partial partitions may be taken as a whole, and the whole is compared with the coverage values of other adjacent partitions, so as to select the coverage value meeting the preset requirement. The subarea adjacent to the mower can comprise the subarea where the mower is located when the boundary is reached, and can also comprise the subarea adjacent to the subarea where the mower is located. For example: fig. 11 is a schematic view illustrating a turning method of a lawn mower according to another embodiment of the present invention, in the lawn mower work system, a zone adjacent to the lawn mower may include:

grids

11, 16 and 12, or also

grids

12, 13, 14, 15 and 16, i.e. these grids can each be a zone adjacent to the mower. In the second case, the intersection point P is present between the traveling direction when the mower is steered and the limit, and if the grid 13 is within the traveling range satisfying the predetermined requirement, the mower steering grid 13 can be controlled, and as shown in fig. 11, the steering can be performed by selecting one traveling direction from among a plurality of traveling directions passing through the point P and the grid 13.

Further, when the coverage values of the partitions adjacent to the mower are substantially the same, the walking range may also be determined according to the partitions adjacent to the adjacent partitions, that is, when the coverage values of the partitions adjacent to the mower are the same, the coverage values of the partitions adjacent to the adjacent partitions may be compared, and the partition with the coverage value meeting the preset requirement may be selected, so that the walking module turns to the partition. Thus, in a scenario where the coverage value of the zone adjacent to the mower is substantially the same, the steering of the walk module can be controlled by comparing the zone coverage values adjacent to the adjacent zone. If the coverage values are still substantially the same, the coverage values of the partitions adjacent to the partition may be compared again, which is not limited in this application.

In one embodiment of the application, the control module may determine a coverage value corresponding to a walking range based on the zone coverage value satisfying a preset distance with the mower, and control the walking range whose steering coverage value satisfies a preset requirement. In this embodiment, the preset distance may include: the distance range is preset. The walking range in which the turning coverage value of the mower meets the preset requirement can be a subarea in which the turning coverage value of the mower meets the preset distance. Namely, the walking range of the mower can be determined by the current walking position of the mower and the partition boundary of which the walking position meets the preset distance when the mower reaches the boundary. Similarly, adjacent partitions having substantially the same coverage value therein may be compared as a whole. In another embodiment of the present application, the walking range may include: specifically, when the lawn mower scans with the cone as shown in fig. 5, the lawn mower may be controlled to turn to a traveling range in which the coverage value satisfies a preset requirement based on the coverage value of a cone or a sector area (i.e., a sector including two arcs, i.e., an outer arc and an inner arc) of the cone, which satisfies a preset distance range from the lawn mower. The cone coverage value or the sector coverage value is similar to the foregoing determination method, and the details are not repeated herein. Of course, the shape may be other than the tapered shape, such as a quadrangle that satisfies a predetermined distance from the lawn mower, and the present application does not limit the shape. As shown in fig. 9, in the process of scanning the working area by the line segment, the mower may be controlled to perform steering to a walking range in which the coverage value satisfies a preset requirement, based on the zone coverage value in the working area, which is the same distance from the point P. The preset distance may be a distance defined by a user or a distance preset by a system, and the present application is not limited.

In another embodiment of the present application, the walking range may be a walking range customized by a user, or a walking range preset by a mower system, that is, the user may define the walking range of the mower by himself or the system may preset the walking range of the mower to control steering of the mower.

Further, in the case where an area 5, such as a flower bed, a pool, an obstacle, or the like, which is not suitable for the lawn mower 20 to operate, exists inside the operation area, the coverage value of each section in the map obtained by removing and dividing the area 5 can be determined. Therefore, when the mower steers, the control module can control the walking module to steer to the walking range with the coverage value meeting the preset requirement based on the coverage value corresponding to each walking range when the mower reaches the limit according to the coverage value of each subarea obtained after the area 5 is removed. The specific walking range determination mode, the steering rule and the like are similar to those in the scene without the area 5, and are not described in detail in this application.

In an embodiment of the present application, when the lawn mower 20 selects the zone to be steered and turns to the traveling direction corresponding to the zone to work, if the abnormal conditions (for example, abnormality such as trapping, falling, collision, lifting, etc.) that are not marked in the map are detected when turning to the traveling direction, the abnormal conditions can be handled first. Specifically, the mower can bypass the abnormality and continue to work in the previously selected walking direction according to the original map after bypassing the abnormality; alternatively, after bypassing the anomaly, the map may be restored in a new route, and the map may be repartitioned based on the restored map and each partition coverage value may be redetermined, so that the lawnmower may be controlled to turn based on the redetermined partition coverage value. If the user is beside the mower, when the mower detects the abnormality, an alarm can be given so that the user can timely handle the abnormality and control the mower to continue working based on the original map; or the user can mark the abnormality in the map, control the mower to re-partition the map based on the abnormal condition, and further re-determine the coverage value of each partition so as to control the walking module to execute steering to the walking range with the coverage value meeting the preset requirement based on the new map; or before reaching the limit, the mower firstly detects whether each walking range has abnormality or not, if the abnormality does not exist, the turning is controlled based on each subarea covering value, if the abnormality exists, the abnormality is marked out and a new map is formed, and then each subarea covering value is determined again to control the turning of the walking module. When the mower detects abnormal conditions such as obstacles, collision and the like, the turning of the mower can be controlled by selecting one of the above modes, and the details are not repeated herein.

In the above embodiment, during the control module controlling the walking module to steer, the two driving wheels can be controlled to steer the mower 20 at different speeds or in different rotation directions, so that the mower can steer to the side of the driving wheel with slower rotation speed or the side of the driving wheel with the rotation direction corresponding to backward movement.

When the mower 20 travels and works in the work area, the mower 20 normally travels in a straight line until the mower 20 detects the limit 2. If the robotic lawnmower 20 encounters boundary 2, the robotic lawnmower 20 will change the original direction of travel to move away from boundary 2 back into the work area to continue traveling straight until boundary 2 is again encountered. The work is performed covering the entire work area by the above-described manner of continuously returning within the boundary 2. However, during the above work, when the mower encounters the limit 2 turn, there is a defect of turning to the work area which has been worked many times before, thus causing some areas to work repeatedly and some areas to be never worked, i.e., uneven work of the mower in the work area. Meanwhile, when a narrow passage exists in the working area, the mower cannot reach other parts in the working area through the narrow passage; or it takes a lot of time to successfully pass through the narrow passage, resulting in some areas of the working area being uncut and cut unevenly.

Thus, in the present embodiment, a path planning method is provided, in which after the map is divided into at least one partition, the lawn mower 20 may record the walking position that the lawn mower passes when walking in the work area during walking, and determine the coverage value of the lawn mower in each partition based on the walking position. When the mower 20 reaches the limit, the control module may control the mower 20 to turn to the walking range where the coverage value meets the preset requirement based on the coverage value corresponding to each walking range when the mower 20 reaches the limit, so as to drive away from the limit. By judging the coverage value of the walking range when the mower turns, the path planning of the mower 20 in the walking process is realized, and the uniform work of the mower 20 in a working area is favorably realized.

In an embodiment of the application, when the mower reaches the limit, the control module may control the walking module to turn to drive away from the limit, and may control the walking module to perform turning to a walking range in which the coverage value satisfies a coverage value less than or equal to a coverage value corresponding to other walking ranges based on a coverage value corresponding to each walking range when the mower reaches the limit. Namely, the control module can select the walking range with the minimum coverage value under the condition of obtaining the coverage value of each walking range, so that the control module controls the walking module to steer to the walking range with the minimum coverage value. After the walking range of the steering is determined, the walking module can be controlled to steer to any walking direction in the walking range. By controlling the mower to perform steering to the walking range with the minimum coverage value, namely, the mower is easier to walk to the area with the lower coverage value in the walking process, the walking coverage rate of the mower can be increased, and uniform work of the mower in the working area can be realized.

In an embodiment of the application, when the mower reaches the limit, the control module may control the walking module to turn to drive away from the limit, and may select a case where the maximum value of the coverage values corresponding to the other walking ranges is less than or equal to a maximum value of the coverage values corresponding to the other walking ranges based on the coverage values corresponding to the walking ranges when the mower reaches the limit, and control the walking module to perform turning to the walking range corresponding to the coverage value. That is, the control module may select at least one walking range corresponding to the non-maximum coverage value under the condition of obtaining the coverage value of each walking range, and randomly select one walking range from the walking ranges meeting the requirements. After the walking range of the steering is determined, the walking module can be controlled to steer to any walking direction in the walking range.

In an embodiment of the application, when the mower reaches the limit, the control module may control the walking module to turn to drive away from the limit, and may control the walking module to perform turning to a walking range in which the coverage value satisfies less than or equal to a preset coverage value based on a coverage value corresponding to each walking range when the mower reaches the limit. The preset coverage value may include: the coverage value defined by the user and/or the preset coverage value, that is, the coverage value which can be defined by the user and/or preset and is finally needed to be reached by each partition. The user-defined coverage value may be determined according to the user's requirements for lawn mowing conditions or the user's personal habits, and the preset coverage value may be determined by the coverage value that each preset partition needs to reach finally in the lawn mower. For example, as shown in fig. 11, when the mower 20 turns to drive away from the limit after reaching the limit, each of the traveling ranges includes: grids 12 to 16, the coverage values of grids 12 to 16 are: 9.1%, 18.2%, 27.2%, 36.4%, the density of the filling line segments in the grid indicates the height of the coverage value, the denser the filling line segments is, and if the coverage value preset by the system is 20%, the mower 20 can turn from any one direction of the grids 12 to 14 corresponding to 9.1%, 18.2% during turning, and can turn to the grid 13 as shown in fig. 11. In the embodiment of the present application, there may be other manners of determining the preset requirement of the coverage value in steering, and the present application is not limited thereto.

In one embodiment of the present application, the mower reach limit may be the navigation mechanism 26 reaching the limit and/or the navigation mechanism 26 reaching a location that meets a preset distance threshold from the limit. Preferably, the preset distance threshold between the navigation mechanism 26 and the limit may be between 20cm and 80 cm.

Another path planning approach is provided in which the navigation mechanism may also be used to determine the angular relationship of the walk direction of the mower 20 to the limits. After obtaining the angular relationship, the control module may also control the walking module to perform steering based on the angular relationship. When the mower reaches the limit, the direction with the obtuse angle relation can be selected, and the mower is controlled to steer towards the obtuse angle direction. As shown in fig. 8, when the mower 20 reaches the limit, the angle relationship between the traveling direction of the mower 20 in the working area and one side of the limit is an obtuse angle, and then the direction is selected to be turned to the coverage value meeting the requirement, and further, the direction of the obtuse angle can be selected and the traveling module can be controlled to perform turning to the obtuse angle; or the steering range can be selected according to the angle relation, and then the steering direction can be selected according to the coverage value meeting the preset requirement. Therefore, in the process of steering of the mower, the walking module is controlled to steer to the walking range with the coverage value meeting the preset requirement on the basis of the coverage value corresponding to each walking range when the mower reaches the limit, and further, the mower is controlled to steer to the obtuse angle direction according to the angle relation between the walking direction of the mower and the limit. As shown in fig. 13, which is another schematic diagram of the path planning method for rapidly leaving a narrow area, when the mower 20 is steered to drive away from a limit, the control of the turning of the mower is realized by using the turning method based on the coverage value and the turning method based on the angle relationship, which are proposed in the embodiment of the present application. At this time, the lawn mower 20 may be steered into the work area under the control of the control module, thereby enabling its uniform work in the work area and its rapid exit from the narrow area.

In the path planning method, the mower can walk for a distance along the limit after meeting the limit, and then steering is performed through the mode based on the coverage value or the mode based on the combination of the coverage value and the angle relation, so that uniform mowing or quick departure from a narrow area is realized. As shown in fig. 12, for a schematic diagram of rapidly leaving a narrow area by using the path planning method, when the mower 20 reaches the limit and turns to drive away from the limit, the mower first performs a small-amplitude rotation to make the traveling direction consistent with the direction of the limit 2, then travels a distance along the limit 2, and then controls the mower to turn to a traveling range where the coverage value meets the preset requirement according to the coverage value control turning method provided in the embodiment of the present application, and at this time, the mower 20 can turn to the working area under the control of the control module, thereby being capable of rapidly leaving the narrow area. That is, in the present embodiment, during the turning process of the mower, in addition to the method for controlling the turning by using the coverage value proposed in the embodiment of the present application, the mower may be controlled to walk along the boundary for a certain distance after the turning is started and before the turning is completed. Preferably, the distance may be set to 20cm to 100 cm.

It should be noted that the boundary 2 in the working area may be curved as a whole, however, at a specific intersection point, such as the intersection point M of the traveling direction of the mower and the boundary in fig. 7, the boundary near the intersection point M may be regarded as a straight line; alternatively, it can be said that, although the limit may be curved, when reaching the position where the limit turns, such as the intersection point N in fig. 7, the extending direction of the limit 2 may be a straight line, which is a tangent to the limit 2.

In the embodiment of the invention, the navigation mechanism is used for recording the walking position passed by the self-moving equipment when the self-moving equipment walks in the working area, and the coverage value of each partition of the self-moving equipment in the working area is determined based on the walking position. When the self-moving equipment reaches the limit, the control module controls the walking module to turn to drive away from the limit, and the control module can control the walking module to execute turning to the walking range of which the coverage value meets the preset requirement based on the coverage value corresponding to each walking range when the self-moving equipment reaches the limit. By controlling the coverage value of the walking range when the self-moving equipment turns, the path planning of the self-moving equipment in the walking process is realized, the uniform work of the self-moving equipment in a working area is favorably realized, and the working efficiency of the self-moving equipment is improved.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a steering method of an automatic work system is further provided, as shown in fig. 14, the steering method may include:

s1401: monitoring the position relation between the mobile equipment and the boundary;

s1402: when the situation that the self-moving equipment reaches the limit is monitored, the self-moving equipment is controlled to turn to the walking range with the coverage value meeting the preset requirement based on the coverage value corresponding to each walking range.

Wherein the self-moving device can walk and work in a limited work area. The boundary may be an electronic boundary or a map-based virtual boundary.

In an embodiment, the executing body of the steering method of the automatic working system may be a controller and a server, where the controller may be a controller in a mobile device or a controller disposed in a navigation mechanism, and the application is not limited thereto.

In one embodiment of the present application, before controlling steering from the mobile device to the walking range whose coverage value meets the preset requirement, the method may further include: dividing a map of a work area into a plurality of partitions; recording the walking position passed by the walking module when walking in the working area; and determining the coverage value of the walking module in each subarea in the working area based on the walking position.

In the embodiment of the invention, the navigation mechanism is used for recording the walking position passed by the self-moving equipment when the self-moving equipment walks in the working area, and the coverage value of each partition of the self-moving equipment in the working area is determined based on the walking position. When the self-moving equipment reaches the limit, the control module controls the walking module to turn to drive away from the limit, and the control module can control the walking module to execute turning to the walking range of which the coverage value meets the preset requirement based on the coverage value corresponding to each walking range when the self-moving equipment reaches the limit. By controlling the coverage value of the walking range when the self-moving equipment turns, the path planning of the self-moving equipment in the walking process is realized, the uniform work of the self-moving equipment in a working area or the quick leaving of a narrow area is facilitated, and the working efficiency of the self-moving equipment is improved.

The method of the embodiment of the present application is described below by a specific application scenario.

Fig. 15 shows a user interface of a lawn mower app, in which a map of a work area is displayed. In this example, the working area is an irregular area, and the low-to-high coverage value in the working area is represented by the light-to-dark color in the map displayed on the user interface. When the lawn mower 20 provided with the GPS navigation mechanism works in the working area, the working time of the lawn mower in each subarea can be recorded, and the coverage value of the lawn mower in each subarea is determined based on the working time. The coverage value in each partition can be updated in real time according to the current working condition, and the coverage value updated in real time is displayed in the user interface through the shade of the color. As shown in fig. 15, when the mower reaches the limit, a tapered area having a predetermined angle with the current traveling position of the mower as the center may be used as the traveling range, and the traveling range may be used to scan the work area during turning. Therefore, the mower 20 can select a walking range with a coverage value meeting a preset requirement to perform steering based on the coverage value of each walking range in the working area during steering. Specifically, a walking range having a coverage value smaller than a preset coverage value may be selected to perform steering. Further, any walking direction is selected from walking ranges meeting preset requirements to perform steering.

The above-mentioned embodiments only express several embodiments of the present invention, and the description thereof is more specific and detailed, but not construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. It should be noted that, for a person skilled in the art, several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the inventive concept, which falls within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present patent shall be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. An automatic working system, characterized in that the automatic working system comprises: a self-moving device that walks and works within a bounded work area, the work area including at least one zone, the self-moving device comprising:

a housing;

the walking module is arranged on the shell and used for driving the self-moving equipment to walk and/or turn; the control module is used for controlling the walking module to drive the self-moving equipment to walk and/or turn; the automatic work system further includes: the navigation mechanism is used for recording the walking position passed by the self-moving equipment when the self-moving equipment walks in the working area, and determining the coverage value of each partition of the self-moving equipment in the working area based on the walking position;

2. The automatic work system according to claim 1, wherein the control module controls the walking module to perform steering to any walking direction in the walking range.

3. The automatic work system according to claim 1, wherein the navigation mechanism is further configured to determine an angular relationship between a walking direction of the self-moving device and a limit, and the control module controls the walking module to perform steering based on the angular relationship, and controls the self-moving device to steer toward the obtuse angle direction if the angular relationship is an obtuse angle when the self-moving device reaches the limit.

4. The automatic work system according to claim 1, wherein the walking range includes: and the conical area takes the current walking position of the self-moving equipment as a center and has a preset angle.

5. The automatic work system according to claim 1, wherein the control module determines the coverage value corresponding to the walking range based on a partitioned coverage value satisfying a preset distance from the mobile device.

6. The automatic work system according to claim 1, wherein the control module determines the coverage value corresponding to the walking range based on the coverage value of the partition adjacent to the self-moving device.

7. The automatic work system according to claim 1, wherein the step of, based on the coverage value corresponding to each walking range when the self-moving device reaches the limit, comprises:

based on the sum or average of the coverage values of the sections in the respective walking ranges.

8. The automatic work system of claim 1, wherein said at least one partition is defined by a partition boundary,

accordingly, the method can be used for solving the problems that,

and determining the walking range of the walking module based on the partition boundary of the partition to which the walking module turns and the current walking position.

9. The automatic work system according to claim 1, wherein the walking range includes: the walking range defined by the user or the preset walking range.

10. The automatic work system of claim 1, wherein the coverage value for the partition is determined based on parameters of at least one of: the self-moving equipment walks in the time, the walking times and the walking path length of each subarea.

11. The automated work system according to claim 1, wherein the preset requirements comprise: and the coverage value is less than or equal to the coverage value corresponding to other walking ranges.

12. The automated work system according to claim 1, wherein the preset requirements comprise: and the coverage value is less than or equal to the maximum value of the coverage values corresponding to other walking ranges.

13. The automated work system according to claim 1, wherein the preset requirements comprise: the coverage value is less than or equal to a preset coverage value.

14. The automated work system of claim 13, wherein the preset override value comprises: the user-defined coverage value, or the preset coverage value.

15. The automated work system of claim 1, wherein the navigation mechanism comprises at least one of: ultrasonic sensors, radar sensors, optical sensors, UWB sensors, inertial navigation systems, satellite navigation mechanisms, visual sensors.

16. The automated work system of claim 1, wherein the navigation mechanism is fixedly or removably mounted to the self-moving device.

17. A steering method of an automatic working system, wherein the self-moving apparatus walks and works in a work area defined by a boundary, the method comprising:

monitoring the position relation of the self-moving equipment and a boundary;

and when the situation that the self-moving equipment reaches the limit is monitored, controlling the self-moving equipment to turn to a walking range with a coverage value meeting preset requirements based on the coverage value corresponding to each walking range.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein prior to controlling the self-moving device to steer to a walking range having a coverage value that meets a preset requirement, the method further comprises:

dividing a map of the work area into a plurality of partitions;

recording the walking position passed by the walking module when walking in the working area;

and determining coverage values in all the partitions of the working area based on the walking positions.

19. An autonomous mobile device, wherein the autonomous mobile device walks and works in a bounded work area, wherein the work area comprises at least one zone, the autonomous mobile device comprising:

a housing;

the walking module is arranged on the shell and used for driving the self-moving equipment to walk and/or turn; the control module is used for controlling the walking module to drive the self-moving equipment to walk and/or turn; the navigation mechanism is used for recording the walking position passed by the self-moving equipment when the self-moving equipment walks in the working area, and determining the coverage value of each partition of the self-moving equipment in the working area based on the walking position;

20. A steering method for a self-moving device, wherein the self-moving device walks and works in a work area defined by a boundary, the method comprising:

monitoring the position relation of the self-moving equipment and a boundary;

21. The method of claim 20, wherein prior to controlling the self-moving device to steer to a walking range having a coverage value that meets a preset requirement, the method further comprises:

dividing a map of the work area into a plurality of partitions;